The present invention relates generally to a microfluidic system, and more particularly to a microfluidic system having an externally controllable nanofluidic interconnect.
Microfluidic devices are devices for controlling fluid flow having dimensions less than about one millimeter. These devices are becoming increasingly important in chemical and biochemical sensing, molecular separations, drug delivery and other emerging technologies. New microfluidic devices and methods for rapidly constructing these devices are being developed. However, most prior art devices are two-dimensional. To produce three-dimensional microfluidic devices, interconnects between two-dimensional structures often are made. However, creation of these interconnects has proved challenging. Many prior three-dimensional microfluidic devices use discrete channels to bridge, rather than connect, independent analysis modules. In other words, the channels passively connect the modules and do not have gates or valves for selectively permitting and preventing flow from one module to the next. Although a pressure activated valve has been developed, this interconnect has limited usefulness because it depends on a variation in pressure of the fluid for opening and closing the valve. Thus, there is a need for an externally controllable active interconnect to exploit the full three-dimensional capacity of microfluidic devices.